1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to a drying rack for utility gloves, specifically to retain and hold medical/laboratory protective hand apparel for exposure and air drying between uses in contaminated clean-up procedures.
______________________________________ REFERENCES CITED ______________________________________ 4,485,929 BETTS, PAUL SR. 6/12/81 5,188.244 HOLLSTEGGE, JERONE 3/16/92 D,258,191 BERMAN ET AL 3/13/78 D,322,343 PEARCY, KEITH 3/21/90 5,127,529 MARTINEZ ET AL 4/29/91 5,163,567 BETTS, PAUL SR. 5/07/92 ______________________________________
2 DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ART
With the advent of AIDS and seriousness of the Hepatitis B virus infection, OSHA has set forth regulations for cleaning and sterilizing procedures in the work area and especially in the medical/dental and laboratory fields relating to asepsis and the handling of sharp objects. Since the basis of health care is universal precautions, which is treating all contamination events as if AIDS and hepatitis B virus are present, assistants and technicians which perform the cleanup and preparation duties are required to wear protective clothing and use techniques which help to prevent cross-contamination incidents.
One item of protective clothing is heavy duty, rubber/nitrile material type of utility gloves. Assistants wear these heavier gloves when cleaning up and disinfecting operative sites, preparing and disposing of sharp instruments, and during preparation duties prior to sterilzation and asepsis care of equipment and materials.
In most instances, after use, these gloves are washed, dried and sprayed with a disinfectant solution while on the hands and then are removed and usually placed on the counter top near the sink until the next need. During the set-down period the gloves remain moist and wet pools of liquid containing possible serious pathogens and diseases for workers and patients are permitted to multiply and develop in the pile of moist utility gloves. Such protective apparel needs to be placed in a position where the surfaces, both internal and external, may air dry thus destroying pathogens.
There are various drying racks for use with medical and health items in laboratory settings as well as general use, but they lack the features of this invention. This drying rack exhibits not only compactability but also a break down quality which permits the disassembly of the unit to allow ease of shipment and storage but more importantly it permits the unit to be easily taken apart and inserted into an autoclave or other sterilizing unit as needed for asepsis compliances. Previous U.S. patents for Betts, Sr. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,485,929 issued Dec. 4, 1984 and 5,165,567 issued Nov. 17, 1992 and Berman's U.S. Pat. No. Des. 258,191 issued on Feb. 10, 1981 or Martinez's U.S. Pat. No. 5,127,529 issued Jul. 7, 1992 do not offer this feature.
The drain basin embodiment of this drying rack is very important because of the nature of the moisture coming from the utility gloves. Although the gloves were washed, dried and sprayed with a disinfectant before removal and placement on the rack, the accumulated moisture coming from these items will contain resistant pathogens which will multiply and may cause cross contamination of the surrounding area. Having a drain basin will contain these fluids until disposal thru the drain flange and proper break down, washing and sanitation of the rack in a mechanical sterilizing unit. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,188,244/Des. 322,343/5,127,529/Des. 258,191/and 4,485,929 for drying conveniences lack this important drain basin feature.
This drying rack incorporates a plurality of expandable vertical rod members arising from the drain basin tray floor which offer an area of support for the utility gloves. Such plurality is accomplished in pairs alloting one vertical rod for each glove which is placed over the vertical rod and deposited onto the rod. When the descending finger area of a glove is positioned an the vertical rod tip the heavier material of utility gloves will permit the support of the total glove. Having a singularity of one vertical rod per glove allows for rapid placement onto the support rod, thereby saving time and effort in multiple glove finger arranging. Betts, Sr., U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,485,929 and 5,165,567 and Berman's U.S. Pat. No. Des. 258,191 and Pearcy's U.S. Pat. No. Des. 322,343 and Martinez's U.S. Pat. No. 5,127,529 and finally, Hollstegge's U.S. Pat. No. 5,188,244 have drying rods but most are not properly shaped and separted enough to accomodate a glove size or they may not be in a vertical position which is needed for draining of all glove surfaces.
The expansion quality of the vertical rod is necessary to accomodate all lengths of utility gloves used in the medical/laboratory setting and still provide a proper sized length of all rack members for placement into the autoclave chamber for sterilization. Many common office/facility sterilization chambers are 71/2 inches wide and 14 inches in length, thereby requiring the longest member of the disassemble drying rack to be no larger than 7 inches wide and 12 inches in length for placement into the autoclave chamber, whereas to enable a vertical rod to support a 12 to 14 inch utility glove in a proper position, the ascending rod must be elongated to 16 or more inches, properly allowing space for moisture drip. This is not to conclude that a drying rack must be small, but can be constructed in a larger size for multiple pairs of gloves, as long as a suitably sized autoclave chamber can accomodate the rack members.
In accordance with the invention, a drying rack for gloves has expandable vertical rods, each rod comprised of two hollow tubes correlated in size and shape to fit one into the other for expansion and reduction in a telescopic nature to a desired length. Each hollow tube is prepared with holes on each side of the tube which may be used to serve as receptacles for holding pins or clamps which maintain the sliding tubes into one vertical support rod. None of the other cited prior art references indicate any expansion or reduction qualities.
Another embodiment of the vertical support rod is the method of attachment to the tray's drain basin. Said lower hollow tube section of the vertical support rod is open and fits over a pylon positioned on the floor of the tray. The attachment of the vertical support rod may be a snap on covering closure or a may be a screw type of union with the thread of the inner surface of the lower hollow tube section uniting with threads situated on the floor pylons. In either event, the outer surface of the lower hollow tube section of the vertical rod extends over the pylon permitting fluids to drain down, over the connection and onto the tray. Some patents, namely, Pearcy's U.S. Pat. No. Des. 322,343 and Hollstegge's U.S. Pat. No. 5,188,244 show vertical rods requiring the rod to be screw into the rack base which will permit the contaminated moisture drip to fall down and into the connection thereby effecting a harbor for collection and growth of pathogens.
A spread ring disc member is placed onto the vertical rod to maintain the wet gloves in a open position for air drying of all surfaces and to assist with the securing and stabilization of the hollow tubes comprising the vertical support rod. Said spread ring disc has a center opening which fits around the vertical support rod and offers flanges or flexible clasps arising from the surface of the disc. Such flanges/clasps attach into the correlated holes of the hollow tubes comprising the length of the vertical support rods thereby fastening the disc in place and the hollow tubes in position. The spread ring disc feature has not been exhibited by any of the above named U.S. patents with the exception of Hollstegge's U.S. Pat. No. 5,188,244 which shows an attachment member at the apex of the vertical rod and not located further down the rod which is necessary for drying gloves.
Further objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent from a consideration of the drawings and ensuing description.